Vivo Energy reports growth all round in first half of year

DURBAN - Vivo Energy reported yesterday a 4% growth to 4.63 billion litres of fuel produced in the six months to end June on the back of growth in all its business segments.

The group said that the performance for the first half was in line with its expectations with annual volume growth now expected to be within the mid-single digit percentage range and an overall stable gross cash unit margin.

Vivo said it had to deal with consumer activism in Morocco across several sectors during the second quarter of 2018, with the government initiating dialogue with the Moroccan Petroleum Group, the industry representative body, to discuss price regulation.

“While discussions have taken place, at this stage no plans regarding price regulation have been confirmed,” the group said.

Vivo Energy operates and markets its products in countries across the continent with a network of more than 1800 service stations in 15 countries.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 8percent year-on-year to $204m, as a result of the volume growth, strong margins and the contribution to the share of profit from its lubricants joint venture, the SVL group.

However, net income of was down by 1percent to $71m, while revenue was up by 14percent to $3.7bn as a result of the special items, mainly in relation to the initial public offering (IPO).

The group had a net debt of $395m at the end of the period.

Chief executive Christian Chammas said following their successful IPO on the London Stock Exchange and the JSE in May, they are pleased to have delivered a strong set of results, during which they continued to meet their growth objectives.

Chammas said given its differentiated business model, track record, exposure to Africa and the growth opportunity, the group remained confident in the resilience of its ability to deliver growth objectives in the second half of the year.

“We have received further regulatory and antitrust approvals in relation to the Engen International Holdings transaction,” chief executive Chammas said.

“We continue to work on the final outstanding items while discussing the timing of completion with Engen.”